The charm to Lesley Dumbrell’s extensive survey show, which opened on July 20 at the Art Gallery of NSW, is in the close looking at her finely drafted paintings.
The first small studies are from the 1960s and show how methodical Dumbrell was even at the age of 28 when she was bolder.
Study for Red Shift combines colours that the artist likes, crimson, purple, dark green, grey and cobalt blue in squares and triangles.
Then she blows up the study into a three by three metre square and the impact is staggering, a monument to hard edge painting from the era.
From then on, the experiments keep coming and the work becomes more refined. Curator Ann Ryan has opted for a chronology in this survey of 80 paintings and works on paper with the 1970s heralded in by the arrival of that most famous of art movements, op art.
“Originally I was keen on op art because I saw it as a whole new field,” Dumbrell told her interviewers. “When you are young you need a definite starting point … I saw op art as heralding a new art for a new age.”
The works from this early period are subtle with vertical stripes creating ripples and patches that glow, reminiscent of paintings by Bridget Riley and John Vickery.
Non-objective artists are keen on the way their practices have developed, and it was the US artist James Doolin who introduced Dumbrell to Liquitex, the fast-drying acrylic paint, that made the meticulous work more feasible.
Thrum is not a controversial show but often a quite sombre exploration of patterns of discrete lines in space. Green Shift (1978) is particularly effective in creating visual illusions and movement.
In the 1980s, Dumbrell abandoned lines in favour of repetitive shapes, juxtaposing flat paint against more sketchy applications. The shapes suggest autumn leaves but are strictly controlled, the colours doing most of the work.
Lines re-emerge in Taffetas (1983) with November (1982) one of the most amusing and satisfying in the exhibition, the lines seeming to crack a few jokes. Those from the art world at the opening see an ironic wit at work.
The 2,000s saw a return to fine grids, with the illusions quite eerie, demonstrating the power of non-objective work to conjure up more than sensation.
Feminists are claiming that this major institutional survey of a significant female artist was overlooked for too long.
Others see it differently. “That’s a tired story,” said one admirer. “She’s been reviewed, won awards and has a long exhibiting history. She’s not an art world victim.”
The artist was at the opening on 19 July and has taken the conservation work behind the scenes seriously, according to members of Fearless, a gallery group.
For op art works, the paintings are strangely restful and delicate rather than strident. Riddle (2020), the final work in the show is a 2D rendition of a 3D metal grid. Close up, these later works twinkle.
Lesley Dumbrell – Thrum
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Art Gallery Road, The Domain (Sydney)
Exhibition continues to 13 October 2024
Free entry
For more information, visit: www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au for details.
Images: Lesley Dumbrell – Thrum (Installation View at Art Gallery of New South Wales) – photo by Rhonda Dredge | Lesley Dumbrell – photo by Rhonda Dredge
Words: Rhonda Dredge